Bold Native premiered in the Bay Area at the Red Vic in San Francisco on November 18th. The film is a fictional portrayal of a network of comrades committed to taking action on behalf of animals despite the risks to their own freedom. The film covers a wide range of territory, from the characters' interpersonal bonds and struggles with friends and family to the larger issues of law enforcement and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). The movie is intelligent and sensitive, crafted with a deft touch, clever dialogue, and sprinklings of humor throughout.

Filmmakers and actors were present for the screening. Author John Robbins spoke before the film. Jake Conroy of the SHAC7 spoke afterward. Full audio of all speakers below.

John Robbins introduced Bold Native as an "extraordinary film" by saying: "It's provocative. It's going to make you think. It's going to make you feel. So if you want to stay psychically numb and shut down, this is not the place to be tonight. But a lot of us don't want that, and we feel actually a responsibility as human beings on the planet, part of the web of life, part of the earth's community, you know, part of this vibrating, living, pulsing thing that is life, to be responsible in our choices and our actions, and bring our lives into more alignment with our compassion, with our caring, with the heartfulness that we live with. And that's what this film is really about, it's about people who don't want to just sit by passively, resigned in despair, in the sense that they can't do anything so why try anyway. But there is a lot of that feeling, that apathy, that pervades our culture."

Jake Conroy speaks about having spent three years in prison for being a member of the SHAC7 -- how he experienced the punitive legal side of the animal liberation movement without ever having seen the romantic side of liberating animals under cover of darkness. He encourages those in attendance to support the many political prisoners currently being held in the U.S., emphasizing the importance of getting letters from the outside for those behind bars (see PDF list below).

Producer Casey Suchan, lead actor Joaquin Pastor, and director Denis Hennelly were interviewed about their new film "Bold Native" on November 20th, 2010, just after Joaquin's three-piece band performed at the Saturn Cafe in Berkeley.